This is How you Disappear From the World
by virgo-mango
Summary: What happened to Zelda and Impa after they left Hyrule for those 7 years of darkness? Follow their story as the princess is trained by the last Shikah. This is a tale of wisdom, womanhood, and what it means to trust in life one more time, and always one more time. (Ocarina of Time AU; Rated M for Violence, Gore, and Adult Themes. *non-sexually explicit but includes nudity*)


By the time she had witnessed her father's head roll down the stairs, the clock had already one too many ticks. Her expression was lightning. Shocked and still. And then came the thunder.

"Father!"

Her screams fueled the ears of the man standing atop the main staircase. His sword glistened with the King's blood as he followed the severed head down each step. The heels of his boots echoed throughout the hall. His eyes burned with rageful ecstasy.

She stared down into the blank eyes of the head, who once had shown so much kindness, and now splattered in gore and covered in despair. Up close, death looked terrifying.

"Your father has left you, Zelda. You will come with me."

She wanted to flee, but her rabbit feet had turned to stone. The voice of the murderer was consuming her every nerve. Copper in the air. Ice in her soul.

Her whimpering lips ignited him further. The feeling of total control was euphoric. All this power and, all too easy.

Too easy.

"_Run child_!"

No, but the girl was not alone, not yet.

A fleet of kunai knives whipped past her face and towards the desert man. He frowned and quickly blocked, crossing two swords over his black heart. The princess turned to instinct, her adrenaline forcing her legs to move. The nearest exit was through the garden, but she needed something first. She absolutely could not leave it behind.

"I'll protect you, go!"

A young woman now stood between the beast and the beauty. New sets of knives were already arranged between her fingers. The desert man laughed.

"Impa." He snarled. "We both know how this will end."

The attendant kept her gaze steady, piercing the evil standing before her.

"It will end once I have buried you myself."

* * *

The princess, with her white dress bundled in her fists, ran with a vigorous fever. The blood of her father continued to dizzy her. Within her mind, his deathly grey look remained. Tears dampened her red cheeks, hummingbird heart pounding against her chest, as if it were to break free from her ribcage at any moment. She did not stop. The castle trembled below and all around her. She did not stop. She heard the suffering screams of the guards and servants. She did not stop.

Once at the stairs in the west wing, she used the railing to support her trembling body, never losing speed. Behind her echoed the noise of steel on steel. She knew Impa did not have much time. They needed to escape, they needed to disappear.

When she finally reached her bedroom, it had already been ransacked by the desert man's pawns.

"No, no, no!"

She broke into frenzy, frantically searching for her most precious item among the shambles. Sweat and tears trickled down her face.

"It must be here it must!"

Pulling over comforters and rummaging through piles of clothing she fought the urge to puke.

"They couldn't have opened it they couldn't…!"

There.

Behind the overturn desk lay a small golden box.

Her relief was short lived as she quickly picked it up and began to undo the seal she had placed on the lock.

Closing her eyes, she muttered in the native Hylian tongue, the language of the Gods. The lock on the box began to shine, and then clicked open. She clumsily collected the item inside with shaking hands. A glassy blue ocarina, the legendary instrument said to control time itself. She hid it in her dress, next to her thumping chest.

A loud bang caused the girl to jerk her head towards the door. It was her trusted attendant.

"Quickly child, come. We must leave _now_!"

Zelda scrambled to her feet and before she could move any further, Impa lifted the girl unto her stiff shoulder. With haste she sped to the garden. Her swiftness was unmatched. Impa moved like sound waves, the princess felt as though they were traveling in between crooks of time, cheating the clock, leaving smoke behind.

Yet, the desert man still lingered not far behind.

His power was a vacuum, consuming everything. The castle shook at his presence; stone and glass began to crumble all around them. Zelda felt the grasp of evil beckoning her heart, reaching its claws through her and into her blue soul. She shut her eyes tight and clutched her arms around her attendant, muttering Hylian incantations to keep the dark spirit at bay.

When they reached the garden, it seemed as if all was untouched. The sky was blue, the grass green, the sun red and shinning. The contrast was dreamlike. These women were not fooled, however. Impa never lost speed. Somehow, despite his newfound power, Ganondorf was still incomplete. They were faster. She led them on in hope.

Putting two fingers in between her lips, Impa let out a high-pitched whistle. Running beside the moat and to the main gate, she met with the only animal capable of hearing such a sound. Zelda's royal white steed galloped towards them from the courtyard. The powerful beast swooped beside the women and Impa hoisted the both of them upon him. She didn't have to strike its reigns in the slightest; the animal instinctively knew how fast it should run. They weren't safe yet.

Ganondorf gave chase still. Zelda looked back and saw the man on his own steed now, ebony like ink, it looked as if it had crawled up from a fissure in the earth. Its rage matched his master's. Their eyes were flames.

The horses galloped through castle town, soliciting shock and fright from the townsfolk. Zelda could not bear to look them in the face. She could not bear to see the souls of those she was leaving behind.

Impa had no time to signal the guards to lower the drawbridge. With a pair of enchanted kunai, she broke the chains, causing the bridge to drop with a loud 'bang'. The guards witnessed the refugees flash before them at a speed they could not comprehend. This was the last time they'd ever see their beloved princess.

Once outside city walls, Zelda caught the sight of a young boy clothed in green as they passed over the bridge. She gasped in what was undefined panic. The boy met her gaze with equal alarm. He was late. She ran out of time. Their plan had failed.

But there was still hope.

It all happened so suddenly. There was no time to think, they couldn't stop. Zelda reached into her bosom and pulled out the sacred instrument, and without a moment's hesitation, threw it towards the boy. It landed in the moat behind him with a splash. The boy, confused, looked towards it and was met with the overwhelming presence of the desert man.

Zelda looked back as long as she could. She saw the man stop; she saw the boy fall over backwards. She looked until they became colored dots in the distance. She looked until she only saw rolling green hills behind them and the silhouette of the castle. She looked until the tears clouded her eyes and she could no longer see clearly. She could do nothing more now but pray for the boy to find a way.

Exhausted and petrified, the princess turned and sunk her face into Impa's chest, and began to sob.

"There is nothing more you could have done," said the woman. "You have chosen the right path."

In between whimpers the princess could muster only these words.

"I am a coward."

The fugitives rode on through the field in silence, not once slowing down, leaving their home behind them.

* * *

Author's note: Hello! Thank you for taking the time to check out my story, I'm very excited about writing this. I've been a fan of the Zelda series since I was 10 years old, and I've always wondered what happened to Zelda and Impa in ocarina of time once they fled the castle. How did Zelda transform into Sheik? How did Impa train her? What hardships did they face and what kind of relationship did they have? I want to explore their journey together through the concepts of love and womanhood, as well as the lengths they would go to protect each other and their future.

This story is rated M for gore, violence, and nudity. There are no explicit sexual themes, but there there are prominent adult themes present that readers may want to treat with caution.

*Story art drawn by Girahimu-sama on Tumblr*


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